Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Servant-Leadership: Social-Science Model Or Biblical Model--Which Is Predominant Within Southern Baptist Ministry Leadership?, Norman Custis Snead Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive research study was to discover the most predominant leadership style, of the five styles being measured (Autocratic/Authoritarian, Bureaucratic, Democratic, Laissez-faire, or Servant-Leader), that was found within the ministry leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, and to discover which servant-leadership model (social-science or biblical) was more predominantly followed by those using a servant-leadership style. Furthermore, the correlation of their leadership position and educational level were analyzed for those ministry leaders predominantly following the social-science model of servant-leadership. The social-science model was identified and defined through a literature review. Whereas, the biblical model was defined and …

Czech Resistance To Organized Religion, Donald L. Schwarz Jr.

Theology Undergraduate Work

According to current statistics, the Czech Republic is a secular, post-communist, post-Christian nation that is almost 80% atheist/agnostic, yet it boasts a vibrant spiritual heritage. Over the last twenty-five years of ministry in this country, the author has observed that it is challenging for Czechs, specifically those newly professing faith in Christ, to integrate into local Czech churches. This research paper briefly reviews the Biblical foundations for the Church, its mission and purpose, and then explores some of the reasons that Czechs resist the Church and organized religion. This paper argues that Czechs are not averse to God but rather …

An Attempt To Understand Gender And Gender Dysphoria: A Christian Approach, Tony N. Jelsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

"Read It Again!": Storytelling To Imitate The Great Teacher, Kate Whatley

Senior Honors Theses

The student’s mind is bent on stories, asking mothers around the world to ‘read it again’. These stories preserve information and emotions for centuries. In the classroom, stories enliven motivation and empathy in ways that result in higher academic achievement and social awareness. Learning to use stories as a key instructional strategy will allow for more equitable opportunities in classrooms, encourage mental health and truth telling for the teacher and the student collectively, and allow the academic community to imitate Christ by contributing to the bigger story taking place across time. In application of using stories as teachers, this thesis …

Why John Piper’S Doctrine Of Salvation Is Incompatible With Scripture, Joshua Zigan

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis details and responds to a biblical contradiction created by John Piper’s soteriology. The contradiction is characterized by God’s operation in salvation according to Piper and the biblical doctrine of God’s nature. The Christian God and the inerrancy of the Bible are presupposed.

An argument is posed showing the contradiction using Scripture and Piper’s soteriology. Conclusions made are (1) that Scripture implicitly teaches that all people possess the free will to choose whether to have faith in Christ and repent, (2) no person possesses the ability to save himself, (3) faith in Christ and repentance are the only two …

Reproducing Lay Leaders In The Local Church Through Missional Mentoring, Jonathan A. Watson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In many rural churches with 250 or fewer people in attendance each week, there is a need to properly train and prepare non-paid, volunteer laymen to serve in positions of leadership. Churches have been guilty of placing someone in an area of service with very little—or no—direction of what to do or how to properly lead. Without adequate training and leadership development, the spiritual growth of the ministry can be hindered as lay leaders are not equipped to effectively disciple those under their ministry. At Bible Baptist Church, the desire is to develop a missional mentoring ministry that will help …

A Phenomenological Study Of Leader-Observed And Student Experienced Behavioral Transformations Associated With Christian Released Time Programs, Steven Louis Rathers Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of instructional leaders and high school graduates associated with a released time education (RTE) learning center in northern Georgia. The study sought to understand the perceived contribution of released time on behavioral transformation and the construct of a biblical worldview. The phenomenological method was chosen as the qualitative design for this research since it involves how the participants made sense of their experience. Data collection in this phenomenological study consisted of interviews with nine instructional leaders, and a focus group of eight alumni, all of whom were purposively …

Keeping Culture: An Evaluation Of Organizational Culture In The Multisite Church, Michael John Grayston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore the attendee perception of organizational culture, including the communication pathways, vision, and mission in the three common multisite church models: the local franchise model, the national franchise model, and the live teaching model. The study evaluated the attendee perception of the methods and strategies used by the multisite church to create and keep one unique culture in spite of their method, proximity, or demographics. The researcher attempted to evaluate these methods through a survey and face-to-face interviews with multisite church leaders from six different churches representing three different models. The …

Counseling Women In Prison On Forgiveness, Guilt, And Shame, Lashawnda Denise Key

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a lack of adequate counseling on forgiveness, guilt, and shame in the women’s prison. Without effective counseling on those subjects while incarcerated, there is potential for the female offender to reoffend. Adequate counseling could increase the recidivism rate. Counselors in the prison system address behavior issues, acclimation of prison life and rehabilitation programs. Addressing the issues that precipitates criminal behavior and helping the offender understand the factors that lead them to engage in criminal behavior are overly complex. With passable counseling the offenders have the propensity to release the hurt and pain they have lived with and become …

A Phenomenological Study Of Anger's Dissonance: Exploring The Attribute Of Meekness Among Christian Exemplars, Stephen Ethan Halstead

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological research examined the role of cognitive dissonance in the process of spiritual and behavioral change in the lives of mature Christian exemplars within the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) located in the Southeast Region of the United States of America by peering through the lens of the emotion of anger to explore one’s transformation toward meekness. Utilizing a purposive sampling, this study sought to explore the magnitude of behavioral change from a tendency toward anger to a tendency toward meekness as one matures as a Christian. It sought to close the gap in understanding how Christians viewed …

The Bottom Line: A Christian Perspective On Engineering, Justin R. Vander Werff, Sam Walhof

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Holistic engineering means the entire process is as important as the final product."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­faithful stewardship in engineering from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/the-bottom-line-a-christian-perspective-on-engineering/

Joined In Heart And Will: A Review Of Reformed Public Theology, Todd Zuidema

Staff Work

"Drawing from the work and writing of many Reformed theologians both historical and contemporary, these essays provide a fresh insight on how to worship and live faithfully together."

Posting about the book Reformed Public Theology from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/joined-in-heart-and-will-a-review-of-reformed-public-theology/

Gained In Translation: A Review Of The First Nations Version, Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Every translation lives in the tension between fidelity to the source material and intelligibility for the audience."

Posting about the book First Nations Version from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/gained-in-translation-a-review-of-the-first-nations-version/

The Sonora Brown Dwarf Atmosphere And Evolution Models. I. Model Description And Application To Cloudless Atmospheres In Rainout Chemical Equilibrium, Mark S. Marley, Didier Saumon, Channon Visscher, Roxana Lupu, Richard Freedman, Caroline Morley, Jonathan J. Fortney, Christopher Seay, Adam J. R. W. Smith, D. J. Teal, Ruoyan Wang

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

We present a new generation of substellar atmosphere and evolution models , appropriate for application to studies of L-, T-, and Y-type brown dwarfs and self-luminous extrasolar planets. The models describe the expected temperature-pressure profiles and emergent spectra of atmospheres in radiative-convective equilibrium with effective temperatures and gravities within the ranges ≤ Teff ≤ 2400 K and 2.5 log 5.5  g. These ranges encompass masses from about 0.5 to 85 Jupiter masses for a set of metallicities ([M/H] = − 0.5 to + 0.5),C/O ratios (from 0.5 to 1.5 times that of solar), and ages. These models expand …

Beyond Translated Vs. Indigenous: Turkish Protestant Christian Hymnody As Global And Local Identity, Jeremy Perigo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

At Turkey’s first national worship conferences in 2011, a passionate debate arose on whether Western music or indigenous Turkish music was most appropriate for worship. Some Turks felt that the Western missionaries were imposing indigenous musics on Turks as a type of “reverse colonization”. They felt that the current Western musical styles were best for worship. One Turk stated, “the saz is being forced down our throats”. Other Turks felt liberated to sing and play songs in traditional Turkish musical styles. The debate at the conference highlights the desire of missionaries and Turks to see renewal in congregational hymnody. Nevertheless, …

Reviews, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Reviews Wonsuk Ma and Kathaleen Reid-Martinez. Human Sexuality & the Holy Spirit: Spirit-Empowered Perspectives.

Robert D. McBain ................................................................................................333

Robert D. McBain. Depression, Where is Your Sting?

Cletus L. Hull, III .................................................................................................335

John R. Levison. The Holy Spirit Before Christianity.

William Lyons ......................................................................................................337

Andrew Ray Williams. Washed in the Spirit: Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Water Baptism.

Christopher J. King ..............................................................................................341

Makoto Fujimura. Art and Faith: A Theology of Making.

Martin Mittelstadt ................................................................................................343

Hannah R. K. Mather. Spirit, Scripture, and Interpretation in the Renewal Tradition.

Rick Wadholm, Jr. ................................................................................................345

Frank D. Macchia. The Spirit-Baptized Church: A Dogmatic Inquiry …

Spiritual Struggle And Spiritual Growth Of Bereft College Students In A Christian Evangelical University, Melinda G. Rhodes, Andrea C. Walker Ph.D.

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article examines spiritual struggle in bereft Christian evangelical students and how struggle might potentiate spiritual growth. The death loss of a close person can result in shattered assumptions about the world that trigger spiritual questions and struggle (Chen, 1997; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2006; Pargament et al., 1998), and spiritual struggle can be a catalyst for growth (Lord & Gramling, 2014; Magyar-Russell et al., 2014; Pargament et al., 1998; Pargament et al., 2011). To our knowledge, spiritual growth has not been measured utilizing the actual voices of those struggling with the loss, nor has it been measured in Christian evangelical …

The Holy Spirit The Ultimate Counselor And Transformer For Healing And Wholeness: A Nepalese Perspective, Karuna Sharma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Nepal is a country with cultural and religious diversity. This country has gone through much turmoil and many crises. Since the time of the Maoist insurgency up to the recent pandemic situation, people have faced various emotions, feelings, and thoughts. These sudden devastating moments have not only affected their physical wellbeing, but has in turn affected the whole being of a person. These experiences of accusation, suffering, violence, and pain have led many to sadness, worry, anger, and fear resulting in various mental disorders. Therefore, the ministry of counseling is very important in order to help people get connected to …

Breaking Depression’S Silence Within The Church Through Friendships, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which …

Counseling In The Already, Not Yet: Reflections On The Work Of The Christian Counselor Through An Eschatological Lens, Haley Rae French

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article reflects on the work of the Christian counselor through an eschatological lens, specifically exploring the notion of what it means to counsel in the “already, not yet.” The counseling process is presented as a place in which the dialectics of this eschatological tension are present and outworked. Pain and suffering are encountered and explored as the counselor stands in solidarity with the sufferer, and yet the Christian counselor also anticipates hope and the power of change in the present, particularly as ushered in by the eschatological Spirit of God. To this end, …

How Jesus Communicates #Metoo: A Perspective On Intergenerational Trauma And Healing In The Atonement, Pamela F. Engelbert

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article offers a practical theological praxis of how the church may participate in Christ’s atoning ministry of healing towards persons who have experienced sexual violence. Drawing from the theory of intergenerational trauma, it uses the mentioning of “the wife of Uriah” in Matthew’s genealogy to convey how Jesus identifies with survivors of sexual violence. The article then focuses on the hypostatic union to establish how Jesus provides ontological healing in the atonement for said survivors. It concludes by demonstrating how Matthew’s Gospel calls radical disciples to a healing praxis of listening to stories of the disenfranchised, thereby pointing towards …

Expanding God's Redemptive Fractal: Spirit-Centered Counseling And The Transformative Wisdom Of Jesus, Bill Buker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic of the …

The Spirit, Change, And Healing: Toward A Spirit-Centered Model Of Healing, Edward E. Decker Jr., Bill Buker, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spirit-centered counseling is an approach to counseling that makes full use of Spirit-centered spirituality as well as techniques and interventions used within Spirit-centered faith groups. An emphasis is always on the importance of being aware of, and experiencing, the Spirit and utilizing this awareness within the counseling endeavor. Three orienting assumptions are delineated to provide direction for the specific practices and methods of Spirit-centered counseling that prepare the way for Spirit-directed changes. Of special importance are the pneumatological imagination, Holy Spirit empowerment, and the development of a trialogical encounter, within which the counselor and the person seeking counseling experience the …

Editorial: A Special Issue And A New Venture!, Andrea C. Walker Ph.D., Edward E. Decker Jr., Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Special editorial by Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward E. Decker, Jr. introducing the special issue dedicated to the subject of "Counseling and the Spirit."

Front Matter: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), [email protected]

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Counseling And The Spirit: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), [email protected]

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

A special issue of Spiritus dedicated to exploring the role of the Holy Spirit in the Counseling profession. Guest editors, Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward Decker, collected essays on the subject of the Spirit and counseling in anticipation of the launch of the new ORU Counseling Journal.

Crisis Mode: 10 Keys To Unlock Thriving In Christian School Leadership - Part 5 Of 5, Joshua E. Bowar

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Adult Catechesis: Cognition And Application For The Christian Life, Jason D. Gudim

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Gudim, Jason D. “Adult Catechesis as Formation and Habitus for the Christian Life.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 127 pp.

The Small and Large Catechisms are a central part of confessional Lutheran theology. Catechism instruction is built into the practice of confirmation. But for many Lutherans, catechesis stops at confirmation, with some never opening their catechisms again. Built into the Great Commission as a disciple-making process are both baptizing and teaching. Catechesis fits the model in that the people of God are guarding the truth of Scripture that has been handed down to them generation by …

The Prophetic And Black And Pentecostal Voice: A Review Of Shoutin' In The Fire, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Shoutin’ in the Fire is a series of personal essays with elements of memoir to them, but from the start, Stewart finds his voice in others’ voices."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book Shoutin' in the Fire from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/the-prophetic-and-black-and-pentecostal-voice-a-review-of-shoutin-in-the-fire/

Crisis Mode: 10 Keys To Unlock Thriving In Christian School Leadership - Part 4 Of 5, Joshua E. Bowar

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.